


Talk It Out

by syriala



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 16:10:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12391560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala
Summary: Tony had known that his relationship with the team would be rocky after the Accords, he had expected nothing else, but he hadn’t expected his relationship with Sam to be so difficult.Tony knew better than to expect anything from Steve, or even the rest of the team, those bridges were burnt and he had no intention of rebuilding them himself, but Sam. Sam had been a different story.They had three years under their belt already and Tony had always thought of their relationship as something steady, solid. Apparently, he had been wrong.





	Talk It Out

Tony had known that his relationship with the team would be rocky after the Accords, he had expected nothing else, but he hadn’t expected his relationship with Sam to be so difficult.

Tony knew better than to expect anything from Steve, or even the rest of the team, those bridges were burnt and he had no intention of rebuilding them himself, but Sam. Sam had been a different story.

They had three years under their belt already and Tony had always thought of their relationship as something steady, solid. Apparently, he had been wrong.

Sam could barely be in the same room as him, not to mention look at or talk with him.

Still, Tony refused to let this be the end, especially since Sam never came out with the actual words to end it.

But he couldn’t help to notice all the ways in which Sam retreated, kept his distance from Tony, always just out of reach, and Tony hadn’t expected for it to hurt so much.

T’Challa had put them in the same room, one bed, and while Sam and Tony slept with as much space between them as possible, they also never really came out to T’Challa and asked for separate rooms. Tony hoped that counted for something.

Sam made sure that there was always space between them, and Tony followed his lead, unwilling to push Sam into something he so clearly didn’t want anymore, but when the one month mark had passed, he wished Sam would just come out with it; blame him, yell at him and then be done with it.

This in-between state was quickly wearing Tony down, but he was too selfish to end it himself.

He loved Sam, had for almost all the time he had known him, and he couldn’t imagine his life without him. If this was how it was supposed to go from now on, then Tony would take it, simply so he wouldn’t lose Sam altogether.

After all the betrayal Tony had gone through he had become an incredibly light sleeper and so when Sam started to trash and whimper at night, Tony woke up almost immediately.

“Sam, hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re safe, you’re in Wakanda, nothing can hurt you here,” Tony whispered and cautiously reached out to touch Sam’s shoulder in an attempt to wake him up.

Sam woke with a start and tears in his eyes and when he saw Tony he closed them, as if in pain.

“Why are you even still here?” he hoarsely whispered and Tony was pretty sure he actually felt his heart break.

It took him a few moments to muster an answer and even then, his voice was breaking halfway through. “I’ve been asking myself the same thing,” he somehow managed to get out and quickly crawled out of bed.

There weren’t that many things he had to pack and so he was leaving for the plane not ten minutes later. Sam had silently watched him pack, eyes following him through the room, but he hadn’t offered anything; no explanation, no break up and certainly not a plea to stay.

Tony was walking through the corridors, barely even seeing anything, when T’Challa appeared at his side.

“Leaving so soon?” the king asked and Tony couldn’t even muster a small smile for him.

“Were the accommodations not to your liking?” T’Challa inquired and Tony stopped.

“It’s not you, it’s me, King Panther,” he said with a self-deprecating smile. “You were most generous to me, even though you didn’t have to, but I am afraid I have to leave.”

“Is it the team? You are my guest, if they were rude or hostile, I can put them somewhere else.”

“It’s not the team,” Tony whispered.

“Ah, it’s him,” T’Challa said in understanding.

“I can’t…he doesn’t want me here. I’m not going to impose myself on him any longer. I should have left a long time ago, but I was too stubborn to see it.”

“He doesn’t want you to leave,” T’Challa said with a little frown.

“He just asked me what I am even still doing here, I think he won’t get clearer than that.”

“But you don’t want to leave.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want. Have you not been paying attention, Simba? Whenever I want something and decide to go through with it, it ends in death or hatred or both. He already hates me. I don’t want him dead.”

“I don’t think you are seeing clearly, Tony. He doesn’t hate you. But since you two are stubborn enough to let the other think that, I think it’s time someone else does something.”

“Don’t meddle with my life. I don’t want your intervention. You can tell them Rhodey needed me, and I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused,” Tony said crisply, bowing just a bit, and then leaving T’Challa behind.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him how to live his life.

~*~*~

Tony hadn’t expected Sam to call and he wasn’t let down on that. He didn’t hear from him for almost two weeks.

When he finally did it was different than he had imagined.

T’Challa was in the States for business, opening Wakanda’s borders required more political talk than T’Challa had ever liked, and he had scheduled a meeting with Tony.

When Tony walked into the conference room, he had half a mind to blow the whole building up.

Right there next to T’Challa was Sam, who didn’t seem to be happy to be there either.

“I told you to let it go, kitty cat,” Tony told T’Challa, without looking at Sam.

“And I told you, you two are blind. I will take my leave now,” T’Challa gave back and then quickly departed the room.

“Why are you here, Sam?” Tony asked and rubbed his forehead, trying very hard not to look at Sam.

The pain was still too fresh.

“T’Challa told me that you didn’t hate me,” Sam said, voice only barely not breaking and Tony’s head snapped up.

“What?” Tony asked.

“I told him it was stupid,” Sam said with a shrug and a pained expression. “I know you do, and I understand, but he was adamant, I couldn’t stop him. I’m sorry you have to see me again.”

“I’m not,” Tony rushed out, words leaving his mouth without thought. “I don’t hate you, why would you ever think that? It’s you who hates me.”

Sam’s eyes got wide. “Is that what you think?” he asked and Tony nodded.

“Of course. Rightfully so, too. I betrayed you, I hit you and I got you imprisoned in that hellhole. I hurt Steve, and Bucky, and I ripped the team apart. Of course you hate me, why wouldn’t you.”

“I betrayed you, stood against you during the Accords, hurt you, got Rhodey almost killed, and sent you after Steve and Bucky to your almost death. Why wouldn’t you hate _me_?” Sam told him and he was frowning now.

Tony couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I never blamed you for any of that, you have to know that,” he whispered.

“Just like you should know that I never blamed you for anything either,” Sam gave back and they looked at each other for a few seconds.

“You asked me why I was still there,” Tony eventually told him. “You asked me what I was even still doing there with you. How was I supposed to interpret that?”

“I thought you hated me. I couldn’t figure out why you would stay and not just leave, like you so clearly wanted to do. You hadn’t even looked at me that day. You didn’t touch me, you kept your distance and that night…I just wanted to know why you kept hurting me like that,” Sam mumbled in explanation.

“ _You_ kept your distance, you avoided me,” Tony said and sat down in a chair. “It was you who wanted me gone, who kept hurting me.”

“I love you,” Sam said and extended his hand over the table, a clear invitation for Tony. “I never wanted to hurt you and I never want you to leave me.”

“I love you, too,” Tony whispered and took the offered hand. “I thought you didn’t, anymore.”

“And I thought you didn’t,” Sam gave back and then chuckled. “T’Challa was certainly right when he called us idiots.”

“Is he even allowed to use mundane words like that as a king?” Tony asked with a small smile.

“Believe me, his actual words were much more colorful.”

They fell into a brief silence once again.

“Come back to Wakanda?” Sam eventually asked. “I haven’t been sleeping so well with you gone,” he admitted.

“Me neither. If King Cat has no objections to it, and if Rhodey can come too, I would gladly accompany you back,” Tony agreed and Sam raised their linked hands to press a kiss to Tony’s knuckles.

“I have missed you, my love,” Sam said as he got up to walk around the table. When he was standing in front of Tony he didn’t even have to use any force to get him up as well.

“I have missed you too, my angel,” Tony whispered back as he got up to meet Sam with open arms.

They stood like that, face hidden in the other’s neck for a few minutes, and they haven’t felt so peaceful in a long time.

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can always find me on my [tumblr](http://bloody-bee-tea.tumblr.com/)


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